Photos by David Stoeckl

Morning accident snarls area traffic for 12 hours

Thursday, January 3

By Brian Christopher
Intelligencer Journal Staff

   Traffic in much of Lancaster County came to a standstill Wednesday after a tanker carrying propane gas tipped over in East Hempfield Township, forcing police to close part of Route 30 for more than 12 hours.

The eastbound tanker, owned by a Delaware trucking company, was carrying 10,000 gallons of the flammable liquid when the driver, Glenn Heverin, 39, of Townsend, Del., lost control of the vehicle about 8:30 a.m., police said. The accident happened several hundred yards east of the Running Pump Road overpass.

The truck slid to a stop across both eastbound lanes. Emergency crews closed the eastbound and westbound lanes of the county's main traffic artery because of the potential for an explosion.

Police and fire crews reopened the westbound lanes of Route 30 about 8 p.m. and the eastbound lanes about 9 p.m., East Hempfield police said.

Shortly after the accident, traffic was detoured at the Rohrerstown and Centerville exits, causing thousands of drivers to navigate the county's back roads.

Columbia and Marietta avenues and other roads in the area filled quickly with cars and trucks. Fire police were dispatched to direct traffic through busy intersections, police said.

Dispatchers at Lancaster Countywide Communications reported traffic backing up on Route 30 to the York County side of the Susquehanna River to the west and into East Lampeter Township on the east side of Lancaster city.

Police responded to numerous minor accidents throughout the area as drivers attempted to by-pass the quagmire, dispatchers said.

There were reports that school buses carrying Hempfield School District students in the Centerville area reached their stops about 30 minutes later than usual, although that could not be confirmed late Wednesday.

Heverin, 39, of Townsend, Del., had been driving east when the tanker truck swerved off the roadway and onto the right shoulder of Route 30.

"He tried to bring it back and lost control," said East Hempfield Township Police Officer Scott Sundquist.

Sundquist said the truck jack-knifed and ""started hopping and skipping" as it careened down the highway.

The truck's tires pulled away from the metal rims, which tore into the concrete surface of the highway until the truck finally flipped over onto its side.

Police said the truck, owned by PAPCO, of Vineland, N.J., continued to slide about 300 feet before coming to a stop, blocking both eastbound lanes of the highway. No other vehicles were involved in the accident.

Heverin only received a cut on his face from the accident and was treated at Lancaster General Hospital before being released, police said.

The Lancaster County Hazardous Materials Team responded to the accident, as did numerous fire companies and medic units.

Officials at the scene said the cleanup took so long because it was necessary to remove the propane from the wrecked truck before it could be removed.

At least two tow trucks were used to set the truck back on its wheels before it was taken from the scene, officials said.

By the end of the daylong episode, crews from nine fire companies had responded to the scene, as well as officers from Mount Joy Borough Police and the state police.

A nearby McDonald's restaurant and a Domino's pizza shop provided food and drinks to the emergency crews, a Rohrerstown fire company spokesman said.

Hempfield police said late Wednesday the cause of the accident was still under investigation.